Dr. Jeffrey T. Taylor, a professional school counselor with Memphis City Schools, is scheduled to join an expert panel addressing racial and ethnic achievement gaps at this year’s annual conference of the National Alliance of Black School Educators’ in Atlanta.

The  discussion, sponsored by SRA/McGraw-Hill and Wright Group/McGraw-Hill, will be held Nov. 20th

Dr. James Demery, director of product research for SRA/McGraw-Hill and Wright Group/McGraw-Hill, is helping to coordinate the panel along with Dr. Joy Mordica, and education researcher at Westat, a corporation that provides research services to agencies of the U.S. Government, as well as businesses, foundations, and state and local governments.

The panel session is entitled “Closing All the Gaps: A Discussion of Strategies for Change in Education.”

“We believe the cause of the achievement gap is multifaceted and that a multifaceted approach is necessary for us to begin to address issues that will impact the achievement of black students,” Demery said.

This discussion featuring multiple perspectives will develop awareness of issues as well as lay the foundation for follow-up activities throughout the coming year.

“We hope that guests of the NABSE conference will take away from this discussion expected recommendations for strategies to address the achievement gap, ideas for tracking the progress toward closing the gaps, and identification of issues surrounding resources and policies that impact achievement,” Demery explained.

“The panel’s goal is to keep the national focus on strategies for improving student achievement for groups whose issues are only visible through disaggregating the collective performance data,” said Dan Caton, president of SRA and Wright Group.

“NABSE is acutely focused on the achievement of African-American children and both Wright Group and SRA support their efforts in much the same way we have supported other groups like the Association of Latino Administrators and Superintendents and TODOS whose focus is Latino children. In our effort to produce the very best curriculum for all children, we seek out opportunities to support and disseminate research that suggests effective strategies for increasing student achievement.”

To learn more about the NABSE 2008 Annual Conference, visit NABSE.org/conference.